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Author Topic: Diverting a river  (Read 551 times)

Karnewarrior

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Diverting a river
« on: October 13, 2009, 01:46:55 pm »
Is it possible to divert a river to make a moat around all or some of your fortress, or just to move it out of the way? The river I'm planning to divert has a way off the map, as I will turn it into two rivers that go around my fortress entrance and back into one river in order to drain into the ocean. Sounds cool, but is it doable? ???
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Syzgyn

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Re: Diverting a river
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2009, 02:16:41 pm »
If you just want a moat, you can tap into the river and have it flow to your moat.  Assuming all the water is on the same level, you don't even need a drain, it will just stop filling once it reaches full capacity. 

Damming a river to divert it completely is another story, check out http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Dam
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Karnewarrior

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Re: Diverting a river
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2009, 02:21:38 pm »
Thank you syzgyn. Now, Onward to my truly overcomplicated fortress!
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Derakon

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Re: Diverting a river
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2009, 02:27:17 pm »
The only problem with diverting rivers is that the flow rate may be insufficient to combat evaporation. When a tile of fluid is at 1/7 depth, it can evaporate, and the way fluids currently work, the leading edge of a fluid flow often is at that depth. Eventually pressure decreases to the point that evaporation equals the flow rate, and the fluid will go no further.

This may not be a problem if you're close enough to the river. You can deal with it by compartmentalizing your moat (so the river only has to fill small sections at a time) or by using pumps to hasten the flow.
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SquirrelWizard

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Re: Diverting a river
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2009, 02:37:09 pm »
I diverted part of a river (well brook) to make a power plant. My suggestions are....

Finish your moat prior to breaching the river. It is infinately easier to make changes to a moat when its dry.

dont make the moat too big. Sure you can have a 10 square wide moat, but its going to be a beast to fill, and it will take a long time before it fills to 7/7. What Derakon said is true, but for the most part it really only pertains to flooding large areas, or areas with limited input. I made a power plant by diverting a river, and it filled up just fine. it was 13 squares wide at the top and filled relatively fast with little to no evaporation.
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